Category: Rutgers Storm Chasing Course

Saturday, June 7th Today was one of the last days for storm chasing and we were hoping for some luck.  SPC is putting us under a Slight Risk for the day with a 5% chance for tornadoes in some regions. Hoping to squeeze one more twister out of this trip, we headed West back to … Continue reading No more soup for you! →

Friday, June 6th Well, I won't keep you in eternal suspense like a terrible two-part Russel T. Davies Doctor Who episode - YES, WE SAW A TORNADO TODAY!  WE DID IT!!!! WOOHOO!!! Our successful story begins in Clayton, New Mexico.  The SPC put a large area of the country, from Colorado to Georgia, under a … Continue reading Jackpot! →

Thursday, June 5th Northeast Colorado was our target for the day, so we left our Holiday Inn in Lamar and drove up to Limon, CO. Though the SPC gave a greater risk for the Arkansas/Missouri border, we didn't want to drive all the way to the Mississippi River only to have to miss the action … Continue reading Crossing Paths →

Wednesday, June 4th On May 7th, 2007, a mile-wide EF-5 tornado barreled through the small town of Greensburg, KS, leveling it to the ground. Today, we visited the town to see how it was recovering and to support the local economy. Before the tornado, Greensburg's claim to fame was The Big Well, the largest well … Continue reading Visiting Greensburg →

Tuesday, June 3rd Today was forecasted to be the most intense chase day of the trip thus far.  With high CAPE values, fantastic shear, plentiful moisture, and sufficient lift overlapping each other almost perfectly over northern Nebraska, one epic day was ahead of us.  The SPC issued a Moderate Risk for an area stretching from … Continue reading Judgement Day… (well, close enough) →

Monday, June 2nd After the craziness that was Sunday, the atmosphere looked like it needed a break - and so did we.  There was plenty of energy in the atmosphere - CAPE was high, CIN was next to nothing, shear was good, and moisture was plentiful, but there was absolutely no lift!  No lift means … Continue reading Laundry Day… →

Sunday, June 1st It's one thing to chase a storm... it's a whole separate game when the storm chases you.  That is what happened to us this past Sunday while in pursuit of our target storm. All the forecasting parameters for tornadic supercell development were looking much better than on Saturday, which was already a … Continue reading When Chasers Become the Chased… →

Saturday, May 31st Well, Saturday was my day to forecast with my forecast partner Scott, and what a day it was! The forecast for the day was a bit rough, with parameters better than Friday, but not ideal for tornadic supercell development.  Eastern Wyoming was our targeted area for the day with a Slight Risk … Continue reading Mother Nature is “Bluffing” →

Wow, what a crazy last couple of days!  I think I've seen more weather in the past 3 days in the upper-Midwest than I've seen my entire life.  I know I've fallen vastly behind on these blog posts, but that's because there's been so much happening, all you have time for anymore is to squeeze … Continue reading Playing Catch-Up →

Took longer than a "one Mississippi" to actually cross the Mississippi, but with that crossing, we are now officially in Tornado Alley and one step closer to catching that sought-after twister! Of course, getting there wasn't the easy part. There was this terrible toll plaza that really just grinded my gears. That's the problem with … Continue reading One Mississippi… →